OFF GRID is 76% funded and officially loved by Kickstarter! <3
The campaign was given a 'PROJECT WE LOVE' badge earlier in the week! We had hopes and dreams
of getting that nice little bit of extra love from Kickstarter before
we started, and now we’ve got it. It feels good. Thanks Kickstarter!
BIG NEWS IS COMING
We have some tremendously fun news coming next week! Stay tuned - the news is going to break on Tuesday, October 30th. You don’t want to miss it!
Once the news is LIVE - please do us the favor of sharing it to
the masses. Tweet, blog, write an article, do a little video, share,
retweet, or write us a poem.
Would you like a clue? OF COURSE you'd like a clue! Here you are:
To celebrate the release of the aforementioned news, Rich will be doing a dev stream on Tuesday to chat about it all with you! Tune in via twitch.tv/semaeopus at 5pm UK time.
Now,
let's get to smashing the 80% milestone as soon as possible, folks!
Share and chat about it as much as you can! Perfect conversation for
all those Halloween parties this weekend... the mass surveillance state
that surrounds us all is downright frightening, after all.
THANK YOU!
The Off Grid Team
If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!
WOW. You backers gave us a seriously wild ride yesterday: 35% funded in 5 hours, 40% funded in 7 hours, AND THEN we hit the 50% mark within 21 hours!
It feels seriously good to be 50% funded within the first 24 hours of the campaign! Your enthusiasm and support has blown us away. THANK YOU!
For this first update, we wanted to give you a little background on the inspiration for Off Grid. As you might be aware, it’s been in the works for quite some time!
The game was initially inspired when Rich heard Eben Moglen speak about net neutrality and data privacy at the INET conference in 2011. It struck a cord, and the seed for Off Grid was planted.
Soon after, Rich teamed up with Pontus, and together they built the first prototype of Off Grid. The goal was to get people thinking about data. The root notion was to try and physicalize it - to make data into something manipulable, something that people would be able to go and play with and see as a thing you can walk around.
But the concept was still a little out there: this was early 2013, before Snowden and NSA revelations.
Fast forward to June 2013, and the first ever public unveiling of Off Grid (in a livestreamed interview at Etoo London) just happened to fall nearly 64 years to the day after the publishing of George Orwell's book, 1984, and the same week that Edward Snowden made his first leak.
And all of a sudden, it clicked.
Prior to the first revelations, it was a struggle to explain to anyone why what we were doing with Off Grid was important or would be interesting. Then, almost overnight, Snowden gave everyone the vocabulary to talk about it. People understood.
Now, years on, the revelations have just kept rolling, and everyone is much more aware of the issues surrounding data privacy and mass surveillance.
It is the perfect time for a game like Off Grid: people are tuned into the effects of data mining and the impact that bad laws around digital rights have on real life. Help us get Off Grid funded, and THEN help us shape the game so we can all try to picture a less dystopian digital tomorrow.
Let’s keep the momentum going - tell your friends!!
THANK YOU!
The Off Grid Team
P.S. If you want to chat to us a bit more informally, we regularly hang out in our studio discord - we’d love to see you in there! Join us: https://discordapp.com/invite/NDEVwBJ
If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!
The moment we've all been waiting for: Off Grid is now LIVE ON KICKSTARTER!
That means you now have the opportunity to:
-PLAY A FREE DEMO OF OFF GRID
-Secure your copy from as little as £8 (the SUPER EARLY BIRD deal is a steal!)
-Get your name or handle in the game
-Help shape the game via our FIRST ACCESS program (back at the PENTESTER level)
-Snag some official OFF GRID merch!
Support OFF GRID: A game about data privacy and mass surveillance. Launching on #kickstarter today with playable demo! http://offgridthegame.com/kickstarter #offgridthegame OFF GRID: A stealth hacking adventure where data is your most powerful weapon. LIVE ON KICKSTARTER TODAY! http://offgridthegame.com/kickstarter #offgridthegame Hack like you have to. Game the system. Don't get caught - your daughter needs you. Support @OffGridTheGame on Kickstarter TODAY! LIVE AT 4PM BST! http://offgridthegame.com/kickstarter #offgridthegame
Thank you!
The Off Grid Team If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!
From 4pm BST onwards TODAY, you will have the opportunity to:
-PLAY A FREE DEMO of Off Grid
-Secure your copy from as little as £8 (SUPER EARLY BIRD - it's a steal!)
-Get your name or handle in the game
-Help shape the game via our FIRST ACCESS program!
-Snag some official OFF GRID merch
Launching on Tuesday, October 9th, you will have the opportunity to:
-PLAY A FREE DEMO of Off Grid
-Secure your copy from as little as £8 (SUPER EARLY BIRD!)
-Get your name or handle in the game
-Help shape the game via our FIRST ACCESS program!
...and much more!
The campaign goes live at 4pm BST. That's:
4pm London / 5pm Berlin / 11am New York / 8am LA
Get in there quick to get the best deal on the game! Some reward tiers are limited... you don't want to miss out!
Help
us spread the word! Share our posts, tell friends when you've backed,
and let us know that you have by using #offgridthegame on social media!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
The Off Grid Team
If you haven’t already - be sure to wishlist Off Grid on Steam - each wishlist makes a big difference to us, and we really appreciate your support!
BIG NEWS! We'll be running a Kickstarter campaign in October!
Get ready for:
a playable demo
the first ever opportunity to secure a copy of Off Grid
a chance to get behind the scenes and help shape the game
The Kickstarter will go live:
Tuesday, October 9th
Please
consider backing us if you are able! If you're not able to, please
share, share, share. Every pledge, like, wishlist and follow means a
lot!
We'll be asking for feedback on our campaign via Discord
this week - hop on in there to get a preview of the campaign & tell
us what you think: https://discordapp.com/invite/NDEVwBJ
ICYMI: We've done a couple dev streams already! One featured hacker Darren Martyn, Pwnsauce of LulzSec fame, and in another, Rich intro'd the game and went through some basic lua device scripting.
Yes, you read that right! Off Grid snagged a pretty sweet accolade over the four days at EGX: Eurogamer staff rated Off Grid as one of the top ten games on the show floor. Read the article in full here.
Here’s the write up on Off Grid (complete with a pretty accurate description of Rich and his conversational skills!):
While that accolade was certainly the highlight of our EGX experience this year - plenty of other great things happened over the four days:
Off Grid’s Twitch Debut
Thursday kicked off with an interview and live play through of Off Grid on the Twitch Stage. Rich talked to CaffCast and Spamfish in a livestream to over 2000 viewers - a first for both Rich and the game! Watch it here.
We now have our own twitch channel - be sure to subscribe! Rich took the opportunity to do some behind the scenes streaming while at EGX, so go have a gander at those if you’re interested. In the future, we hope to use it to do playthroughs of Off Grid, talk in more depth about our development process, and perhaps about some of the inspiration and influences behind the the game itself.
The Geek Show
Pontus (not often seen on camera!) was interviewed by The Geek Show for their podcast and YouTube channel. Get your glimpse of one of the powerhouses behind Off Grid here:
Friendly banter with the NCA
The National Crime Agency (NCA) had a stand at EGX and were handing out helpful information to all inquisitive passersby - including literature on the Computer Misuse Act and an NCA challenge.
Here’s a little closeup of their handout:
Big Red Barrel Duet with Yucatan Game
Fellow indie dev and Leftfield Collection exhibitor, Joe Bain, and Rich Metson were interviewed by the kind folks at Big Red Barrel.
They’ve put together a special EGX podcast, jam packed with all their favorite games. Listen in at about 56 minutes for the very best bits! ;)
What else did we love about EGX?
You’re right, we already said the highlight was being picked as ONE OF THE TOP TEN GAMES OF THE SHOW! :D That’s totally true - it is awesome.
But what else did we love about EGX and our participation in Leftfield Collection? Watching YOU play the game!
It’s always a treat to see how players make their way through the latest build - taking note what they find interesting and engaging, and what might be quickly passed over.
This year marked ten years of Leftfield at EGX - that’s ten years of showcasing great indie games alongside all the big hitters - thanks to David Hayward for all the effort supporting indie developers!
